In December 1882, and two months after the sad and sudden death of the first Head Mistress Ada McDowall (nee Benson), the Governors appointed Marian Belcher, portrayed as a 'comfortable English woman in her lace...
Evelyn Marian Jackson was born on the 18th July 1892 at Pitt Street, Barnsley, Yorkshire. She was one of six children born to William and Frances Jackson. Her father was a Master Corn Miller...
Pearl Clareta Thomson was born on 1st June 1917, in Portland on the island of Jamaica. She was an intelligent girl, but just as important was her natural ability to communicate with others. She had...
It can sometimes be an emotional experience, being at a graveside and reading the words on a stone that has no emotions; the memorial of a young child, or someone who was “accidentally killed” can...
Those who knew Ada Benson described her as formidable. She was a staunch Anglican, a real pioneer with high principles and hard working. It was her intention to train girls in true religion, good manners...
The Palmer family were talented musicians. Mary’s youngest son Marshall Palmer was organist at St. Mary’s Church, Woburn, and music teacher at Owen’s School, Bedford. In 1941, Marshall Palmer formed the new Bedford Musical Society....
Lady Fanny Jean Turing Trustram Eve was a well-known social reformer. She stood out among the many exceptional women because of her different activities. Her nephew was Alan Mathison Turing, the renowned computer scientist and...
Hester Periam Hawkins was dedicated to the study of the heavens, and her deep spirituality characterised her thinking and writing. Apart from astronomy, Hester spent much of her time in social service, and the British-Israel...
Amelia and her husband James came to Bedford from Devon during the 1800s. They set up home in Gwyn Street with their four sons and one daughter. James was a self-employed tobacco manufacturer in St....
Mabel Andrews was born in 1866, into a conventional middle-class London Victorian family, but one with some connections in the literary world, and who became very much steeped in the Anglicanism of the day.